Objective To observe the clinical efficacy of distant collateral needling in treating cervical spondylotic radiculopathy. Method Eighty patients with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy were randomized into a treatment group and a control group, 40 cases in each group. The treatment group was intervened by distant collateral needling, while the control group was by ordinary acupuncture treatment. The symptom and sign scores were observed before and after intervention, and the clinical efficacies were compared between the two groups. Result The symptom and sign scores were changed significantly after intervention in both groups (P<0.01). The symptom and sign scores of the treatment group were significantly different from that of the control group after intervention (P<0.05). The total effective rate and the recovery plus markedly-effective rate were respectively 94.9% and 84.6% in the treatment group versus 89.2% and 64.9% in the control group. The between-group difference in the total effective rate was statistically insignificant (P>0.05); there was a significant difference in comparing the recovery plus markedly-effective rate between the two groups (P<0.05).Conclusion Distant collateral needling is an effective method in treating cervical spondylotic radiculopathy.